The Power of SHAZAM! #33

This December 1997 issue of The Power of SHAZAM! presents one of the most arresting covers in the series — a tight, painterly close-up of Captain Marvel's face rendered in striking blue shadow, his expression set somewhere between resolve and unease, with the golden braid of his cape collar filling the bottom of the frame. Jerry Ordway both wrote and drew the cover, and the sheer intimacy of the composition — almost uncomfortably close — gives the issue an immediate psychological weight. Paired with the wonderfully provocative story title "Yeah -- This Is a Face Only a Mother Could Love...," it's a compelling package from a creative team that clearly had something bold in mind.